Flower Girl
by Unpersonified
Summary: As simply defined as the title itself. Short her time may have been with him, but it made an eternity to forget. So he remembers. A Clerith poem.


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**A**/**N**: What can I say? Strange moods inspire strange things. 

Beware the frequent tense changes.

**Summary**: As simply defined as the title itself. Short her time may have been with him, but it made an eternity to forget. So he remembers. A Clerith poem.

**Disclaimer**: (insert ellipsis)

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**F**lower **G**irl

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The first I met you  
Was a soft dream amidst chaos;  
Gentle and calm and infinitely soothing  
Till its end, where all dreams would  
But shatter at the hands of reality.

_How slumber begets such sweet memory  
Only to destroy it as one wakes._

I remember  
How the dust, not innocently disturbed  
Soared into the sunless twilight, and fell  
(For not even a feather could remain as such)  
Like rain on that fated day.

Yes, it was a fated day  
When I consented to that task.  
What did a criminal's repute matter,  
Had I not emerged  
And missed that prized encounter?

_For while fleeing the scene of my ill-wrought ventures  
I had chanced a glance upon –_

A budding bloom in a ravaged land  
You were, I say no less.  
As rare, as precious, were your ilk –  
A glorious wreath of multi-hued petals  
Held in your basket's cradle.

_But only your visage, did I see._

Of their own accord, did my feet carry me  
To the barren earth where you stood.  
A chestnut braid, green eyes, pink dress;  
That radiant smile on your lips –  
And I knew, without knowing  
That you were one unlike any other.

_Flower Girl,  
Had you known you had bought my heart then  
When you asked that purchase of me?_

Its delicate stem poised on delicate fingers  
You handed your flowered gift to me –  
Your life, your love, your memory  
For a worthless gil in exchange.

_If the payment was greater or lesser still  
Would I cherish you as I do now?_

_**"Oh, these? Do you like them? They're only a gil…?"**_

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The second I met you  
Was yet another unwritten song –  
Blank in its expanse of unseen notes  
Rendering its slow prelude no more distinct  
Than its stormy finale.

_But music, alas, is so unappreciated  
When bereft of your voice's sweet melody._

Blindfolded, I was then  
By a drape of perfect black  
Woven from threads of unconsciousness.  
But light came, and undressed my eyes  
So saw them, a bed of flowers.

Fortunately-placed, this flowerbed was  
To break my untimely descent.  
What other path would my life have traveled  
Had I not landed here  
And awoken to your calling?

_For while falling endless feet to my alleged death  
I had dreamt of a pink –_

A new-sprang bloom in a downtown church  
You were, I noted this round.  
As welcoming, were the surrounding walls  
That the wind's choir should so oft sojourn  
To sing its euphony within.

_But only your voice, did I hear._

And the words that tumbled from my lips  
Were not those spoken in common courtesy  
But rather, of curiosity's longing.  
A worthless materia, a bargain, a chase;  
They were there, the surprises of a journey –  
For ours had just begun.

_Flower Girl,  
Had you known you would have my puppet's strings  
When you sought refuge in my wan strength?_

Your hand was warm against mine as we ran,  
Calming my hammering heart.  
Such blind trust you conveyed in your grasp  
To a stranger you only twice met.

_If I were no knight, and you, no damsel-in-distress,  
Would I protect you as I failed, so many times?_

_**"Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard?"**_

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The third I met you  
Was on that prearranged 'date'  
(Your part of the aforementioned bargain).  
A trying affair, it was, I confess  
Be it not of my present interest then.

_I apologize; my actions were ill contrived  
For unromantic pursuits had consumed me._

In vivid detail, my mind recalls  
Of the way you sat opposite me.  
Hands folded petal-like in your lap,  
You were a beacon against the cabin walls,  
Even against the brilliant fireworks.

And a dazzling show, those fireworks made  
At the close of that ridiculous drama.  
What novel words would we have exchanged  
Had I not played Alfred  
And rescued Princess Rosa from doom's end?

_For while slipping your hand that too innocent kiss  
I had wished to be mine, a girl in pink –_

A full-flowered bloom in a sky-cable lift  
You were, else I had been deceived.  
As oddly misplaced, was my current state  
Defined by the lack of motion sickness  
The stale air would have doubtlessly spurred.

_But only your fragrance, did I breathe._

Impassively, the fool (that was I) stayed put  
When you sat barely three feet away.  
Oh, how the ends of your rose lips upturned  
In such bittersweet futility –  
For I had not the courage to reply  
So both turned window-wards, in defeat.

_Flower Girl,  
Had you known you would leave me distraught  
When you posed that simple request to me?_

That glazed look of reminiscence in your eyes  
You whispered six small, frail words –  
But they sailed, unfelt, past my precarious mind  
Awash with memories that weren't mine.

_If I was more than a shadow of your past love  
Would our bond have surpassed mere friends?_

_**"Cloud… I want to meet you."**_

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The fourth I met you  
Was truly a dream –  
A patch of sleep's hazed tapestry.  
Like honey, it was too sweet to be true  
And like honey, too thick to transverse.

_Thus such, in future, I would drink tea bitter  
To save myself from this reminder._

A dappled green  
Embroidered the edges of remembrance  
In garlands of forested canopy.  
But you were there, painting the woods' canvas  
Still more grand, with mere dawn-pink inks.

Only, the dawn had not yet broken  
When you left our company's midst.  
What lost time together would I have salvaged  
Had I not lost my sanity  
And captured your hands ere departure?

_For while searching the depths of that cursed temple  
I had sensed ill to befall you, my Flower Girl –_

A stagnant bloom in unreality's mist  
You were, in fate I knew not to come.  
As divinely bright, was the grove's ambience  
Overflowing with intangible aromas  
Of woods' colours reincarnate.

_But only your light, did I savour._

As in all dreams, my actions were preset  
Hence I watched you, immobile;  
Your green eyes were squinted in a smile  
That bore far too much assurance  
To be real –  
Then I realized what you had set out to do.

_Flower Girl,  
Had you known you would break my heart then  
When you chased your foredoomed destiny?_

Like soft patters of falling rain  
Did your feet trot off into the distance  
Which despite my desperate floundering  
Eluded me, my soul's wretched cry.

_If I had managed to hold you back  
Would our journey have ventured much farther?_

_**"I'll come back when it's all over."**_

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The last I met you  
Was alas, not a dream  
Nor even the most horrific of nightmares!  
For it was, instead, another vile entity  
That burned such dreams into awakening.

_And never again, would I find sanctuary,  
Not in my mind forever riddled with torment…_

Into undying memory  
Was your prayer's image emblazoned,  
As bloodstained as the day it was born.  
How dreadfully easy, had pink and silver merged  
To form paint's untruth, the crimson of death!

For death was imminent in your glassy eyes  
When you fell into my arms.  
What precious life would I have rescued  
Had I taken the blade  
And be slain in place of you!

_For while clutching your body, in agonized despair  
I had begged for you to stay, Aerith._

A bloom, finally wilted, in the midst of nowhere  
You were, as you were my beloved.  
No object or being could ever match your beauty  
Even as you hung, lifeless –  
Eternally robbed of all sensation.

_But it was not your pain, which I felt._

Through a veil of tears, I carried you  
Unaware that they leaked from my own eyes.  
But yours were lidded so delicately –  
The perfect illusion of sweet slumber  
Spoiled only by lack of warmth,  
Warmth you would have had if you still lived.

_Flower Girl,  
Had you known you would destroy me at last  
When you spoke not your final good-bye?_

With serene grace, you drifted downwards  
To rest upon the lakebed's cold earth.  
And my heart tore apart, in pained realization  
That you were gone from me forever.

_Not 'if', but certainty, had named our love star-crossed  
For it was already too late when I said:_

_**"I love you."**_

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**_Fin._**

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**A**/**N**: You and I both know what reviews are capable of, heh. 

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